Abandoned Acme! Shrewsbury, New Jersey

Location: 1080 Broad Street, Shrewsbury, NJ

Opening Date: Sometime in the 70's

Closing Date: April 2016

The Shrewsbury Acme is now abandoned and it doesn't look like Acme is in much of a rush to clear it out. The store has been replaced with a former A&P across the street. It would have been nice if the A&P was remodeled as Shrewsbury wound down for Acme to make the replacement more official. Not only has the store not been remodeled, the Tinton Falls store doesn't appear to be run nearly as well as other Acme conversions. I stopped in while I was in the area and was expecting to find the store in top form to win shoppers over to the *new* Acme. Unfortunately, that was not the case. Far too many poorly stocked shelves throughout the store for a Saturday afternoon. I was particularly surprised by the lack of product in the Bakery, as did two other shoppers I noticed who were shopping for a birthday cake. The store did have a decent crowd and plenty of open checkout lanes. Overall, the place just feels like it is not living up to its potential.










They should have added an arrow pointing to the left. You can't see the new Acme from this area and if you go "directly across the street" you wind up at Trader Joes.







For full coverage of the Shrewsbury and Tinton Falls stores, click here.

Abandoned Acme — Chalfont/New Britain, PA

Location: 505 West Butler Avenue Chalfont, PA
Opened October 3, 1997
Closed November 13, 2014

Another round of photos has been sent in of the still abandoned New Britain Acme. An auction of the fixtures was held in May, a year and a half after the stores closed! Some observations from our New Britain correspondent...

I drove past the old new Britain acme a few days ago to find the parking lot to be full of vehicles. there was an auction and selling of fixtures inside a few weeks ago. many u-haul vans parked outside but when I was there yesterday there was nobody to be found. the store is literally empty. there are two fairly large dumpsters in the back. the green one seems to have broken and destroyed fixtures and displays, but I was unable to look into the blue one, but you could tell that it was full of stuff.





















For additional coverage of the New Britain Acme, please click here.

Abandoned Acme! Clifton, New Jersey

Location: 467 Allwood Road, Clifton, NJ 

These photos were taken back in August 2015. Stopped by the store this past weekend to find it in the same exact state as you see here with one exception... the lights have finally been turned off.


This store opened February 3, 2004 and closed on February 19, 2015. Reasons for closing are a bit sketchy. Word came in that the rent had been raised significantly and Acme couldn't justify the increase with the amount of business they were doing. At this point, that doesn't seem to be true as Acme still holds the lease and is apparently looking for tenants to take over the space. Several comments and emails came in naming retailers clamoring to get into this space. That doesn't seem to be true either as the store has sat empty for nearly a year now. The whole situation puzzles me a bit since business here seemed to be as strong as ever since Albertsons took the reigns. This location also would have benefited from the massive amount of advertising now going on in the area with Acme's triumphant return to North Jersey.

The new gray and red carts at the converted stores make so much more sense for Acme than these green ones.

Acme Markets
The self-checkouts main terminal was still on 6 months after the store closed. All lights one as well.


I'll never understand why Acme closes stores and just leaves everything behind. Can none of this equipment be used elsewhere? Can't it be sold off if they don't want it? Seems like such a waste. Not to mention all of the wasted electricity.






When this store closed, it was the very last Acme that was within any reasonable distance from where I live.


For full coverage of the former Clifton Acme, click here.

Inside the Egg Harbor City Acme!

Photos courtesy of Gary in DC

Location: 111 New York Ave, Egg Harbor City, NJ

Despite numerous plans to tear down this abandoned Acme, it is still standing today. The store was originally covered on the blog back in April 2009. A follow-up was done in January 2012 which included a peek inside. At the time, the roof hadn't begun to cave in so there was very little light in the store. While we could see the dilapidated condition of the interior, it was impossible to see any details, particularly with the decor. Well, here we are in 2014 and the roof has sufficiently allowing the light to illuminate the store! Lucky for us, right?


The Egg Harbor store opened November 14, 1956 and closed in 2002. The store remains a landmark, as well as an eyesore, in the area as the giant sign out on Route 30 remains standing.

AN ACME STYLE EXCLUSIVE...

Check out the 70's Colonial Decor lettering on the walls!


The actual letters have been removed exposing the original paint on the walls. The store appears to have been painted white without an update to the department signs. A similar situation played out at the now abandoned Brown Mills Acme. You can jump to that post here or have a quick look inside by clicking here.


"Lancaster Brand Meats" along the back wall with "Corner Deli" in the right-hand corner...


According to comments left under the original post, the Deli was added during the 70's remodel. It was not here when the store first opened. As we have seen in recent remodels, the "Corner Deli" is making a triumphant return to Acme Markets!




Crazy how it looks like there are actual lights on in here! Just some holes in the roof letting sunlight in.


"DAIRY" along the left wall. The red and brown paint you're seeing along the wall was part of the 70's Colonial Decor. The Dairy wall was often designed to look like a simplified barn roof. The brown stripe to the rear is probably left over from the "Smoked Meats" department which was located in the back corner. Most stores had these departments by the Deli but according to a layout description that was left under the original post, the smoked meats were in this corner.

I still have burning questions about Customer Service! Gary mentioned that he wasn't able to angle his camera to see if the clock was still in the building. Here's the thing… Acme was famous for not one, but TWO clocks back in the day. We are all familiar with the clock that hung over the entrance that included a panel for advertisements. The other clock, which was only put into select Acme locations in the 50's, was built into the wall above customer service. Similar to this but in black and no numbers.




Portions of this sign were replaced over the years. The original "ACME" panel has the block-letter logo on it...


Look closely and you can see the red letters under the brown paint.

Some close-up shots of the back of the store...




Store #1105!








I believe this was a timer for the exterior lights.


When I visited this store back in 2009, I discovered pieces of the sign scattered all over the parking. Actually TONS of pieces. The poor thing had been busted up pretty bad by vandals. I grabbed some of the larger pieces for souvenirs...


We're looking at what was the back of the sign. The front was painted brown just like the one on the side of building. The other side of these pieces are brown as well. A pictures of the assembled sign below...




The huge sign out on Route 30.

A special thanks to Gary for the update and the spectacular pictures of the interior!